A Perilous Game
by Wonder Squint
Summary: Modern-AU, multi-themed, one-shot. "They were all given new lives, void of the mistakes in their previous. And yet, here we are, never to live anew and doomed to live with the same reflection for centuries."


_**Author's Note: **__This was originally intended to be a multi-chapter, alas I lost inspiration to continue and now, it's a one-shot. It's just a little something to toy with the fantasy genre that I wrote a year or so ago. Please read, review and enjoy._

_**Title Meaning: **__Love._

_**Disclaimer: **__i own nothing but the idea and my words._

* * *

**A PERILOUS GAME**

* * *

**December 31****st**** 2011**

As his friends Merlin and Lancelot greeted more guests into their shared flat to celebrate the last moments of another year gone by, Gwaine remained in the chair he had kept for centuries, reminiscing in the memories of not only this recent year, but the many that plagued him since their creation.

One year in particular, his mind had become fixed to recently, was his final year with _her_. Certain dates from that hopeless year crept back into his psyche without warning; corrupting his attempts to forget about each moment he spent with her throughout the many centuries they endured together.

The memories infected him just as he remembered how she had done the same.

**October 30th, 1933**

Late, on the eve of Samhain, Gwaine sat in his armchair in front of the grand hearth, reading the newspaper as if it were morning for any normal man. Beside him, sat a goblet filled with a dark viscous fluid, enticing his appetite as he awaited his lover's return with their evening meal.

Eventually, she arrived and he watched her descend the few steps from the foyer to drawing room he now occupied. With her ruby lips, long raven curls and red gown swaying, she was a welcome sight to behold. _No change from usual, _he thought as he approached her with a lustful glint in his eye.

"What have you found for us tonight?" asked Gwaine, as his arms encircled her waist.

Morgana winked while falling into his embrace, mimicking his licentious nature, "Claudia? Come here, pet." said she, voice soft.

A petite, fair-haired girl stepped into Gwaine's view. She couldn't have been older than twenty and so, Morgana had taken no heed to such a prime detail yet again. He sighed, pulling away from them and returned to his chair, forcing a frustrated groan from Morgana. "I told you, Morgana. Choose only those who wish to live no further and yet again, you choose but a child who has yet to live at all."

Claudia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What is he talking about?" she inquired, turning to the older woman.

"Hush!" Morgana reprimanded the girl. "And I have told you, the younger the blood, the better for us if we hope to maintain our strength." she stated, ushering Claudia to sit in her bewildered state.

Gwaine glanced up at Morgana, her beauty even now tormenting him as he tried to sustain his anger with her, "But a girl who isn't even sharp enough to flee from us as we speak of her demise?"

She chuckled lightly, humoured by his plea of sympathy for this human - this mortal who meant nothing to her, "Her powers of intelligence influence not the energy her blood will provide us."

Morgana moved to sit beside Claudia, gently tugging a strand of hair from her face, baring her neck to them. But just as Gwaine stood and grabbed Morgana's wrist, they watched intently as the thick artery beneath the delicate skin danced to the beat of her heart that they heard racing as they both drew closer to her. She remained stiff, unable to move out of fear of these two dark but terribly beautiful… creatures now stalking her.

As if awoken from the trance of his natural disposition, Gwaine shook his head lightly, "Let her go." he warned, tightening his grip around Morgana's wrist, knowing his strength could always be broken by hers.

His grip roused Morgana's attention, if only for a moment before she answered, "No." and pulled free from his grasp and instead, yanked Claudia into her own, sinking her now eject fangs into the girls neck, seeking the blood within her body. Claudia's screaming ceased as Morgana drained her dry, leaving but a single drop within the now lifeless carcass.

"God!" she heard Gwaine bellow as she wiped the blood from her lips with the back of her hand, licking it off, intending to waste none of its delicacy. "Why must you defy me at every turn?!" he asked, daring to glance back at her, hoping she had finished ravaging the girl to death.

Morgana scoffed, mindlessly pushing the body off of her lap and onto the floor between them, "It is you who defy me, Gwaine. You have never embraced our nature." She stood, fixing her dress and hair, for the night had only begun.

His fury grew and made certain that she too felt such, "Your nature! It has never been mine!" he reminded her.

She watched him with disbelief, "I made you who you are."

"You mean what i am."

"If i hadn't you'd be dead! Just like that damned corpse." she said, gesturing towards the dead girl in their sitting-room. After a moment and no reply, she continued, "Would you rather be dead, Gwaine?" asked Morgana, hoping the question was somewhat rhetorical.

He closed his eyes momentarily, taking a moment to choose his next words carefully; enough blood had been spilt already on this night, "It would be better than this existence." He uttered finally.

In reply, she gasped, with further incredulity, "Don't say that. You wanted forever. I gave it to you." He could feel the sting of his words within her voice, they could always harm her more than anything else, for she knew he meant every last syllable.

"Forever has long passed." Gwaine whispered approaching her as her eyes slowly began to bleed: a visual symbol of a vampire's sorrow. He kissed her forehead as she allowed him to touch her without struggle, "But i love you still, that is the torment of it."

**January 1st 2012**

Later, in that Halloween night, so long ago, Gwaine remembered his last words had them falling into bed together, making love for hours as they so often did in the midst of passion - bloody or otherwise.

His heated thoughts were interrupted by another friend, Arthur, coming to stand beside Gwaine at the balcony. Gwaine knew Arthur didn't really know Morgana, not in his new life anyway: He wasn't related to her as he once had been. Despite Arthur's demise at the time Morgana had turned Gwaine, Arthur himself had not been turned but instead, died a mortal death, as had all their other companions and family members. He and Morgana alone were the only two left in the world who remembered the time of Albion in truth. The rest had been reborn and had forgotten the lives they once had. _Lucky for some_, Gwaine mused, ignoring Arthur as he prattled on about subjects of no significance to Gwaine.

With another swig of the synthetic blood he had taken to in good-will, he sighed, "Another year to ruin."

"Don't be so cynical, Gwaine. Go find yourself a pretty bird to occupy your night." encouraged Arthur, good intensions lurking within his irritancy.

"I'm not in the mood."

Arthur rolls his blue eyes, "You're never in the mood, not since Morg…" as he remembered the stories of Gwaine's lost love and her betrayal from Merlin, Arthur promptly stopped himself from continuing, if not interrupted by Gwaine's deadly stare.

He turned to glare at his blond friend, "Do not speak of her!" he warned bitterly, leaving Arthur just a tad intimidated.

Gwaine's head was thick with memories and emotions for the woman he wanted to forget. She lingers not only in his memories: his mind, but also his heart. He couldn't admit this, of course… he wouldn't dare.

* * *

_Thank you for reading. It's quite old so my writing certainly isn't on par with my current skill._


End file.
